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. 2022 Jul-Aug:77:40-68.
doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2022.04.002. Epub 2022 Apr 9.

Effects of mental health interventions among people hospitalized with COVID-19 infection: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Amina Tasleem  1 , Yutong Wang  1 , Kexin Li  1 , Xiaowen Jiang  1 , Ankur Krishnan  1 , Chen He  1 , Ying Sun  1 , Yin Wu  2 , Suiqiong Fan  1 , Jill T Boruff  3 , Sarah Markham  4 , Danielle B Rice  5 , Olivia Bonardi  1 , Tiffany Dal Santo  1 , Letong Li  1 , Ian Thombs-Vite  1 , Branka Agic  6 , Christine Fahim  7 , Michael S Martin  8 , Sanjeev Sockalingam  9 , Andrea Benedetti  10 , Brett D Thombs  11
Affiliations

Effects of mental health interventions among people hospitalized with COVID-19 infection: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Amina Tasleem et al. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2022 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

Objective: We evaluated the effects of mental health interventions among people hospitalized with COVID-19.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and searched 9 databases (2 Chinese-language) from December 31, 2019 to June 28, 2021. Eligible randomized controlled trials assessed interventions among hospitalized COVID-19 patients that targeted mental health symptoms. Due to the poor quality of trials, we sought to verify accuracy of trial reports including results.

Results: We identified 47 randomized controlled trials from China (N = 42), Iran (N = 4) and Turkey (N = 1) of which 21 tested the efficacy of psychological interventions, 5 physical and breathing exercises, and 21 a combination of interventions. Trial information could only be verified for 3 trials of psychological interventions (cognitive behavioral, guided imagery, multicomponent online), and these were the only trials with low risk of bias on at least 4 of 7 domains. Results could not be pooled or interpreted with confidence due to the degree of poor reporting and trial quality, the frequency of what were deemed implausibly large effects, and heterogeneity.

Conclusion: Trials of interventions to address mental health in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, collectively, are not of sufficient quality to inform practice. Health care providers should refer to existing expert recommendations and standard hospital-based practices.

Registration: PROSPERO (CRD42020179703); registered on April 17, 2020.

Keywords: COVID-19; Interventions; Mental health; Randomized controlled trials; Systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors completed the ICJME uniform disclosure form and declared no support from any organization for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years. All authors declare no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. No sponsor or funder was involved in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram of study selection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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